Method of and machine for making wire-glass.



R. A. B. WALSH.

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE GLASS.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.2, 1907.

gosapyo Patented Nov. 23, 1909. 7 I l 3 I (MM/2M W '1 Jimmy v UNITED STATES PATENT oF uoE.

ROBERT A. B. WALSH, or ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI;

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE-GLASS. I

Specification of Letters Patent; Patented NOV. 23, 1909. Application filed December 2, 1907. Serial No. 404,845. I h i the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled 1n the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompan ing drawings, forming part of.

this speci cation, in which Figures 1,2, 3 and 4 are side elevations of different forms of apparatus which may be used in practicing my invention and Fig. 5 is a conventional illustrationof the embedding roller.

This invention relates to a new and useful method of, and a machine for making wire glass, and particularly wire glass in which a plurality of layers are employed to form the ultimate sheet.

' The object of my invention is to produce a sheet of wire glass having smooth brilliant surfaces, the wire of said sheet retaining its original bright and new appearance after it has been embedded in the glass.

In the manufacture of wire glass, the tendency of the wyire is to contract and draw the glass so as, to produce an uneven or an irregular surface. It has been pro osed, see for illustration the patent to W alsh No. 610,593, dated September 13, 1898,'t0 cure these irregularities by smoothing them down by a finishing roller; but this cannot always be successfully accomplished, because, while the finishing roller acts upon the elevations, it will not glass to the epressions and make a perfect weld. It has also been proposed, see for illustration the Schmertz reissue patent No.

- 12,443, dated January 30, 1906, to press the Wire mesh into the topsurface of a first formed sheet or layer ofigglass and then spread a finishing layer or sheet of molten glass theredver. This method produces a better and smoother finish to the to surface of the sheet than the Walsh met 'odfirst.

mentioned. In both of these methods, the ,Wire, on account of its exposure to atmosphere after being heated loses'its bright and new appearance and looks black in the finishedsheet. In the Schmertz method the weld xbetween the two layers occurs prmcipally: in the plane of the wire, and as the underneath the embedding roller4 an erfectly transfer the surplus fladleful of molten glass 7 isdumped onto wire is at places left free to draw this action is sometimes observed on the surface of the second layer. f

Briefly stated, my present invention contemplates the method of, and an apparatus for forming a sheet of glass having wire mesh buried therein and thereafter forming a second sheet or la er of glass and welding it to the uneven surface of the sheet in which the wire mesh is embedded. Preferably the wire mesh isembedded in the upper surface of the first formed sheet or layer at. the time that said sheet is being made so that in its heated condition the, wire mesh will not be exposed to atmosphere and will accordingly preserveits bright and new appearance in the glass.

It is obvious that my invention is not 1 limited to a single type of machine, but may be embodied in different forms of apparatus.

I have shown several of these forms in the accompanying drawings, and will first refer to that shown in Fig. 1, which comprises a table 1, having a smooth surface roller 2 arran ed above the upper surface thereof at a distance equal to the thickness of the finished-product and a smooth surface roller 3 arranged adjacent to the roller 2 and adapted to cooperate therewith. to form the top layer of the finished sheet. Said apparatus also comprises an embedding roller 4 which cooperates with the table to form the bottom layer and embed the wire mesh there in .and a roller 5 for guiding the wire mesh that is embedded inthe bottom layer. In

practicing my invention with apparatus of thisdescription a Wire mesh 6 1s arran ed a Ethe table adjacent said embedding roller.

"The table is then moved longitudinally in the embedding roller 4 which forces the wire mesh into the upper, surface of said layer so that it is completely covered. When the end of said layer or sheet reaches the rollers 2 and 3 a mass of moltenglass 9 is poured between said rollers so as to produce a top layer 10 which falls onto the u er surface of the bottom layer and is we, ed thereto by the roller 2. From' the foregoing it will be seen that two independent masses of molten glass are formed progressively llltQ stationary and the rollers moved longitudinally thereof without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In Fig. 2 I have shown another form of apparatus which can' bev usedfor practicing my method. This apparatus comprises two smooth surface rollers 2 and 3 for forming the. top layer or finishing layer 10 and an embedding roller 4 and a smooth surface roller 4 for forming thebottom layer 8 and embedding the wire mesh therein, the two layers being combined together to form a sin le sheet by means of a smooth surface rol er 11 that is arranged above the table 1.

In Fig. 3 I have shown still another form of apparatus which can be used for practicing my method. This apparatus consists of two smooth-surface rollers 12 and 13 spaced apart a distance equal to the thickness of the finished product, 'an embedding roller 4 cooperating with the roller 13 to form the bottom layer and bury the wire mesh in the upper surface thereof and a smooth surface roller 2 cooperating with the roller- 12 to form the top layer, the rollers 12 and 13 also operating to combine the two layers together to form a single sheet. In stead of having the embedding roller 4 cooperate with the roller 13 to form the bottom layer 8 and embed the wire mesh therein and the roller 2 cooperate with the roller 12 to form the top layer, said embedding roller and smooth surface roller 2 can cooperate with supplemental smooth surface rollers 4 and 2 as in the apparatus shown in Fig.

4 and the'two rollers 12 and 13 be used simply to combine the two layers together. It will be observed from the foregoing that a complete sheet of wire glass is first formed, to-wit, a sheet or layer of glass with wire buried beneath its upper surface and finally a finishing layer of glass is formed and combined with the previously formed sheet or layer, the finishing layer of glass filling in the spaces in then per surface of the first formed sheet and ecoming thor oughly welded thereto. Thus the tendency of the wire to draw the glass incontract ing, and produce an irregular or uneven surface on the first formed sheet is corrected by the second layer, which not only fills in the unevenness in the first formed sheet, but

said second layer more readily partakes and retains the smooth even surface imparted by the finishing-roller.

By referring to Fig. 5 it will be noted that the embedding roller marked 4 is provided with embedding blades which are preferably made thin, deep and tapering to a knife ed esso-that'they will have the least amounto'f surface contact with the wire to be embedded. These embedding blades are also spaced as far apart as is'practicable and yet sufficiently close together so that. they will uniformly bury the wire beneath the upper surface of the first formed sheet or layer of glass. From the above it will be noted that the embedding roller which I propose to use is not a corrugated roller in the sense that said term is usually understood in this art, particularly with respect to the manufacture of wash-board glass. An ordinary corrugated roller, that is, one whose contour is in the shape of a sinusoidal curve and which is used to make glass plates for use in wash-boards would not answer the purpose of an embedding roller to perform the functionsof anv embedding roller illustrated in Fig. 5 for the reason that the corrugations as a general rule are too close together and present too large an area for surface contact with the wire, in consequence of which the wire would not be embedded or buried beneath the surface, but; would merely occupy a position where it would be exposed between the protuberances formed by such corrugated roller. The ex osure' of the wire to the atmos here after t e wire is heated:

by contact with the glass, is what I seek to avoid. The complete burying of the wire beneath the surface of the first formed sheet or layer is what I seek to do, and this is done by the embedding blades of the roller 4.

By reference to Fig. 5 it will be seen that the glass does not entirely fill the spaces between the embedding blades and thus there are left on the upper surface of the first formed sheet or layer soft or unchilled protrusions, which have not been in contact with the metal of the embedding roller.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1 1. An apparatus of the character described comprising means for forming a sheet of glass, means for then embedding wire therein, and means for forming another sheet or layerof glass and welding the same to said first formed sheet; substantially as described.

2. An apparatus for makin wire glass, the same comprisin means plurality of masses 0 molten glass into layer form, forcing a wire 'mesh below the surface of one of said layers so that it is completely covered, and thereafter combining said layers into a single sheet; substantially as described. i

3. An apparatus of the character described or rolling a I secs comprising means for making a'sheet of glass having Wire buried beneath its surface, one surface of said sheet also having regularly spaced protrusions on its surface, and means for forming another sheet of glass and welding said other sheet of glass to the protrusion-bearing surface; substantially as described.

4. An apparatus of the character described comprising means for forming a sheet of glass, means for burying wire beneath the upper surface of said sheet, and means for. forming another sheet or layer of glass and Welding it to the uneven upper surface of said first formed sheet; substantially as described.

5. An apparatus 'of the character described comprising means for forming a sheet of glass and simultaneously forcing a wire mesh into the upper surface thereof so that it is completely covered, and means for forming a second sheet or layer of glass and welding it to the upper surface of the first formed sheet; substantially as described.

6. An apparatus of the character described comprising means for forming a layer' of glass and embedding a wire-mesh in the upper surface thereof 'so that it is completely covered, means for forming a finishing layerof glass, and means for combining said layers together; substantially as described.

7. An apparatus of the character described comprising an embedding roller and cooperating means for forming a layer of glass and forcing a Wire mesh into the u per surface thereof so that it is completely covered, a pair of rolls for forming a second layer of glass and means for welding said second layer to the upper surface of the layer in which the Wire mesh is embedded; substantially as'describcd.

8. The method of making wire glass consisting in forming a sheet of glass, embedding wire therein, and in forming another sheet of glass and welding the same to said first formed sheet; substantially as described.

9. The method of making wire glass consisting in rolling a plurality of masses of molten glass into layer form, introducing a wire mesh below the surface of one of said layers so that it is completely covered, and

combining said layers into a single sheet;

substantially as descri ed.

10. 'The method of making wired glass which consists in rolling a plurality of masses'of molten glass into layer form and simultaneously forcing a wire mesh below the surface of one of said layers so that it is completely covered, and thereafter merging. said layers into a single sheet; substantially as described.

11. The method of making wire glass which consists in forming a mass of molten glass into a layer, forcing a wire mesh into the upper surface of said layer so that it is completely covered, forming a separate mass of molten glass into a layerand combining said layers together; substantially as described.

12. The method of making wire glass which consists in rolling a mass of molten glass into a layer or sheet and simultaneously embedding a wire mesh in the upper surface of said sheet so that it is completely covered, rolling an independent mass of molten glass into a top layer, and thereafter combining said layers together to form a single sheet; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses,

this twenty-sixth day of November 1907.

ROBERT A. B. VALSH. 

